USL League One
USL League One is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The soccer league system|Division 3 league] is operated by the United Soccer League, the same group that operates the men's Division 2 USL Championship, women's Division 1 league USL Super League and other leagues. the league has 18 teams that play 34 regular season games, followed by playoffs. All teams also participate in the USL Cup, adding four games, followed by knockout rounds.
History
Early years (2017–2020)
The USL Championship was granted second-division sanctioning by the United States Soccer Federation in January 2017, leaving the third tier of American soccer unoccupied. From 1996 to 2009, the United Soccer League operated leagues at the lower divisions under various names, including the USL Second Division in the third tier. On April 2, 2017, the USL announced that it would launch a new third-division league in 2019, with a minimum of eight clubs and relaxed requirements compared to the second-division USL. The new league had the temporary name USL Division III. The league announced that they would target cities with a population of 150,000 to one million, mostly in cities currently without a professional team.In the following months, the league began searching for cities and markets in which to locate new member teams. A tour of prospective cities in the southeastern United States was conducted by the league's vice president from April to May 2017, followed by a visit to North Carolina and a similar tour of the Midwest in late May. After the closing of the southeastern tour, the league announced a possible plan for Tormenta FC, a Premier Development League team from Georgia, to join the league.
The unveiling of the first founding member, South Georgia Tormenta FC, took place on January 25, 2018. This was followed by FC Tucson on February 6, Greenville Triumph SC on March 13, and Madison, Wisconsin on May 17. Toronto FC II of the USL was announced on July 2, and Chattanooga, Tennessee was announced on August 1. Three USL Championship teams, Penn FC, the Rochester Rhinos and the Richmond Kickers, also announced plans to move to League One by 2020 due to financial difficulties. On October 2, 2018, the tenth and final founding member was revealed to be the reserve team of FC Dallas. Four days later, the club unveiled its branding as North Texas SC.
The league filed for Division III status with the USSF on August 14, 2018. Ten founding teams were listed in the application. On December 14, 2018, USSF voted to provisionally sanction League One as a Division 3 league for 2019. The league currently shares Division III status with MLS Next Pro and the National Independent Soccer Association.
The first League One game was played on March 29, 2019, when Tormenta FC defeated Greenville Triumph SC 1–0 before a crowd of 3,519 at Eagle Field in Erk Russell Park. Alex Morrell scored the first goal in the 72nd minute. At the end of the season, Lansing Ignite FC folded.
Departure of MLS reserve teams and first wave of expansion (2020–2022)
For the 2020 season, Union Omaha joined the league. Additionally, the New England Revolution and Inter Miami CF placed reserve teams in the league, bringing the total number of teams to 12.On June 21, 2021, Major League Soccer announced the creation of a new professional soccer league, MLS Next Pro, which began play in 2022 and would host all of MLS's reserve teams along with some independent teams. Fort Lauderdale CF, New England Revolution II, North Texas SC and Toronto FC II all joined MLS Next Pro after the 2021 League One season. Former League One side Orlando City B joined MLS Next Pro for the inaugural 2022 season following a hiatus that began after the club completed the 2020 League One season. Rochester New York FC, formerly known as Rochester Rhinos, announced on December 5, 2021, that the club would be joining MLS Next Pro as its first independent club. Rochester had announced in 2018 their intentions to join League One for the 2020 season, though stadium delays and other financial issues kept the club on hiatus for four years. On October 5, 2021, the USL announced it had awarded Lexington Pro Soccer an expansion team for the 2023 season. It would be League One's first club based in Kentucky. The club's identity was revealed as Lexington Sporting Club on March 22, 2022.
Central Valley Fuego FC, Charlotte Independence and Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC began play in 2022. On June 3, 2022, USL announced that they had granted a group based out of Wilmington, North Carolina the exclusive rights to pursue a League One expansion team for the area to join in 2024. Wilmington had been the home of long-time USL club Wilmington Hammerheads FC, which played in various USL leagues from 1996 until 2017. On July 12, 2022, USL announced that a newly formed club, Santa Barbara Sky FC, would be joining League One for the 2024 season, though their debut would later be delayed until 2025, then cancelled entirely, instead joining USL Championship beginning in 2026. Following the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, FC Tucson announced a self-relegation back to USL League Two. Shortly after FC Tucson announced their self-relegation, One Knoxville SC announced they would turn professional and join League One for 2023, following a successful debut season that saw them reach the USL League Two conference finals. On October 7, 2022, the league announced an expansion team in Spokane, Washington, named Spokane Velocity. On December 8, 2022, it was announced that USL League Two club Lane United FC acquired exclusive rights to pursue a League One franchise in Lane County, Oregon. This club will begin play in 2026 as Sporting Cascades FC.
Second wave of expansion (2023–present)
Throughout autumn 2023, the league announced three more expansion teams: one in Portland, Maine, named Portland Hearts of Pine, one in Sherman, Texas, named Texoma FC, and one in Lancaster, California, named AV Alta FC. The league announced two more expansion teams in early 2024, first in Naples, Florida, later unveiled as FC Naples, and Mount Vernon, New York, named Westchester SC.In August 2024, the USL announced that Lexington SC would be moving from League One to the Championship for the 2025 season.
In October 2024, the league granted expansion teams to Corpus Christi, Texas, and Boise, Idaho, the latter being named Athletic Club Boise. Both are expected to join for the 2026 season, with the Corpus Christi team retaining the Corpus Christi FC identity it had used in League Two.
On November 14, 2024, the USL announced that it had terminated Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC's franchise agreement and that Central Valley Fuego and the league "had come to a mutual decision to part ways." Both of these teams would eventually move to The League for Clubs.
In mid-February 2025, the league granted an expansion team to Paterson, New Jersey to begin play for the 2026 season at historic Hinchliffe Stadium. The team's name was revealed as the New York Cosmos in July 2025, adopting the identity of the legendary New York team that competed in the original North American Soccer League and fielded the likes of Pelé and Giorgio Chinaglia. The Cosmos name had previously been revived in 2010 for the relaunch of the NASL, but that club played only four professional matches after the second NASL failed in 2017, and had played none since 2020 after briefly joining the National Independent Soccer Association.
Also in February 2025, two League Two teams, Sarasota Paradise and Fort Wayne FC, declared their intention to go fully professional and join League One in 2026.
In April 2025, Fort Lauderdale United FC, a women's team competing in the USL Super League, originally announced that it would form a men's team to compete in USL League One for 2026. In December 2025, the club announced that it would push its League One team's launch date to 2027.
On October 13, 2025, Port St. Lucie SC was announced as the newest USL League One franchise, based in Port St. Lucie, Florida and set to begin play in 2027.
Following their inaugural season in League One, the ownership group for Texoma FC announced that the Texoma franchise would be moving to USL League Two for at least the 2026 season with the intent of moving back to League One in the future. Texoma's ownership group subsequently started a new USL League One team in Celina, Texas, Rodeo SC, with an intention to compete in the 2027 season. Celina is 27 miles south of Sherman, Texas, where Texoma plays.
Teams
For its 2026 season, eighteen teams will compete in USL League One, including nine in the south and three each in the midwest, northeast, and west. The league operates under a franchise model, where the USL grants a club "franchise rights" to field a team into the league. The minimum salary for a player in the league is $2,200 per month, with no flex contracts like those in the USL Championship being offered.Of the charter members of its inaugural 2019 season, five continue to play in the league: the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC, Forward Madison FC, Greenville Triumph SC, Richmond Kickers, and Tormenta FC. The Charlotte Independence and Kickers previously played in the USL Championship, while Corpus Christi FC, Fort Wayne FC, One Knoxville SC, Sarasota Paradise, and Tormenta moved from USL League Two. The rest of the league's membership are expansion clubs that commenced play in USL League One. A League Two club and three expansion clubs have been granted entry into League One for the 2027 season.
The USL is currently in discussions with municipal governments for potential League One or Championship expansion clubs based in Brevard County, Florida, Brownsville, Texas, Firestone, Colorado, Fresno, California, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Medford, Oregon, Modesto, California, Pensacola, Florida, Pico Rivera, California, Riverside, California, Santa Rosa, California, Springfield, Missouri, and Winter Garden, Florida. The municipal government of Everett, Washington is exploring a possible expansion club to co-inhabit a planned multi-purpose stadium with the Everett AquaSox baseball club.
Current clubs
;NotesFuture clubs
;NotesFormer teams
;NotesTimeline
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:21
Period = from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2028
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:20 left:15 bottom:80 top:5
Colors =
id:barcolor value:rgb
id:line value:black
id:scale value:gray
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb legend:Current_clubs
id:Future value:rgb legend:Future_clubs
id:Former value:rgb legend:Former_clubs
id:Other value:gray legend:Club_playing_in_different_league
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/2018
Legend = orientation:hor position:bottom
TextData =
fontsize:L
textcolor:black
pos: tabs:
text:
BarData =
#> 2019 <#
bar:CRW text:_
bar:MAD text:_
bar:GVT text:_
bar:LAN text:_
bar:NTX text:_
bar:OCB text:_
bar:RIC text:_
bar:TOR text:_
bar:TO2 text:_
bar:TUC text:_
#> 2020 <#
bar:IM2 text:_
bar:NE2 text:_
bar:UO text:_
#> 2021 <#
bar:NC text:_
#> 2022 <#
bar:CVF text:_
bar:CLI text:_
bar:NCH text:_
#> 2023 <#
bar:LEX text:_
bar:KNX text:_
#> 2024 <#
bar:SPK text:_
#> 2025 <#
bar:AVA text:_
bar:NAP text:_
bar:PHP text:_
bar:TXO text:_
bar:WES text:_
#> 2026 <#
bar:BOI text:_
bar:CCH text:_
bar:FTW text:_
bar:NYC text:_
bar:SAR text:_
#> Future <#
bar:FTL text:_
bar:PSL text:_
bar:ROD text:_
bar:CAS text:_
PlotData =
width:15 textcolor:black shift: anchor:from fontsize:s
- > JOINED IN 2019 <#
bar:MAD color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:end text:Forward Madison FC
bar:GVT color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:end text:Greenville Triumph SC
bar:LAN color:Former from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text:Lansing Ignite FC
bar:NTX color:Former from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2021 text:North Texas SC
bar:NTX color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:OCB color:Former from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2020 text:Orlando City B
bar:OCB color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:RIC color:Other from:start till:12/31/2018 text:USL
bar:RIC color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:end text:Richmond Kickers
bar:TOR color:Other from:start till:12/31/2018 text:PDL
bar:TOR color:Full from:01/01/2019 till:end text:South Georgia Tormenta FC
bar:TO2 color:Other from:start till:12/31/2018 text:USL
bar:TO2 color:Former from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text:Toronto FC II
bar:TO2 color:Former from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2021 text:
bar:TO2 color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:TUC color:Other from:start till:12/31/2018 text:PDL
bar:TUC color:Former from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2022 text:FC Tucson
bar:TUC color:Other from:01/01/2023 till:end text:USL League Two
- > JOINED IN 2020 <#
bar:IM2 color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:NE2 color:Former from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2021 text:New England Revolution II
bar:NE2 color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:end text:MLS Next Pro
bar:UO color:Full from:01/01/2020 till:end text:Union Omaha
#> NOTE: Though Union Omaha has stated its intention to move to USL Championship after the completion of their stadium, there has been no official announcement by USL about any timeline for that to happen. Do not change this unless/until this happens. <#
- > JOINED IN 2021 <#
bar:NC color:Other from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2020 text:USL Championship
bar:NC color:Former from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2023 text:North Carolina FC
bar:NC color:Other from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2025 text:USL Championship
- > JOINED IN 2022 <#
bar:CVF color:Other from:01/01/2025 till:end text:The League for Clubs
bar:CLI color:Other from:start till:12/31/2018 text:USL
bar:CLI color:Other from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2021 text:USL Championship
bar:CLI color:Full from:01/01/2022 till:end text:Charlotte Independence
bar:NCH color:Former from:01/01/2022 till:12/31/2024 text:Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC
bar:NCH color:Other from:01/01/2025 till:end text:The League for Clubs
- > JOINED IN 2023 <#
bar:LEX color:Other from:01/01/2025 till:end text:USL Championship
bar:KNX color:Other from:01/01/2022 till:12/31/2022 text:USL League Two
bar:KNX color:Full from:01/01/2023 till:end text:One Knoxville SC
- > JOINED IN 2024 <#
- > JOINED IN 2025 <#
bar:NAP color:Full from:01/01/2025 till:end text:FC Naples
bar:PHP color:Full from:01/01/2025 till:end text:Portland Hearts of Pine
bar:TXO color:Former from:01/01/2025 till:12/31/2025 text:Texoma FC
bar:TXO color:Other from:01/01/2026 till:end text:USL League Two
bar:WES color:Full from:01/01/2025 till:end text:Westchester SC
- > JOINED IN 2026 <#
bar:CCH color:Other from:start till:12/31/2018 text:PDL
bar:CCH color:Other from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2025 text:USL League Two
bar:CCH color:Full from:01/01/2026 till:end text:Corpus Christi FC
bar:FTW color:Other from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2025 text:USL League Two
bar:FTW color:Full from:01/01/2026 till:end text:Fort Wayne FC
bar:NYC color:Full from:01/01/2026 till:end text:New York Cosmos
bar:SAR color:Other from:01/01/2023 till:12/31/2025 text:USL League Two
bar:SAR color:Full from:01/01/2026 till:end text:Sarasota Paradise
- > FUTURE CLUBS <#
bar:FTL color:Future from:01/01/2027 till:end text:Fort Lauderdale United FC
bar:PSL color:Future from:01/01/2027 till:end text:Port St. Lucie SC
bar:ROD color:Future from:01/01/2027 till:end text:Rodeo SC
bar:CAS color:Future from:01/01/2027 till:end text:Sporting Cascades FC
Champions
Teams that no longer participate in USL League One are in italics.| Season | Teams | Playoff champions | Players' Shield |
| 2019 | 10 | North Texas SC | North Texas SC |
| 2020 | 11 | Greenville Triumph SC | Greenville Triumph SC |
| 2021 | 12 | Union Omaha | Union Omaha |
| 2022 | 11 | South Georgia Tormenta FC | Richmond Kickers |
| 2023 | 12 | North Carolina FC | Union Omaha |
| 2024 | 12 | Union Omaha | Union Omaha |
| 2025 | 14 | One Knoxville SC | One Knoxville SC |
| 2026 | 18 | TBD | TBD |
USL League One Finals
| Season | Champions | Score | Runners–up | Venue | Attendance | MVP |
| 2019 | North Texas SC | 1–0 | Greenville Triumph SC | Toyota Stadium | 3,245 | Arturo Rodríguez |
| 2020 | Cancelled | Union Omaha | Legacy Early College Field | N/A | N/A | |
| 2021 | 3–0 | Greenville Triumph SC | Werner Park | 5,221 | Damià Viader | |
| 2022 | 2–1 | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | Optim Sports Medicine Field | 3,045 | Kazaiah Sterling | |
| 2023 | 1–1 | Charlotte Independence | WakeMed Soccer Park | 4,487 | Raheem Somersall | |
| 2024 | 3–0 | Spokane Velocity FC | Werner Park | 5,849 | Joe Gallardo | |
| 2025 | 2–0 | Spokane Velocity FC | Covenant Health Park | 7,500 | Nico Rosamilia |
Attendance
| Season | Teams | League avg. | Playoff avg. | Highest teams | Lowest teams | Ref |
| 2019 | 10 | 1,911 | 3,217 | 4,292 3,468 | 168 203 | |
| 2020 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| 2021 | 12 | 1,721 | 3,098 | 3,287 2,761 | 151 849 | |
| 2022 | 11 | 2,203 | 2,865 | 4,759 3,551 | 516 1,041 | |
| 2023 | 12 | 2,363 | 2,604 | 4,786 4,310 | 735 1,322 | |
| 2024 | 12 | 2,329 | 3,262 | 4,672 4,242 | 728 1,077 | |
| 2025 | 14 | 2,785 | 3,968 | 5,808 4,369 | 719 773 |